Image marketing
How can I earn money with my photographs? Many dedicated amateur photographers ask themselves this question at some point. The dream of a free life as a photographer – travelling and taking photographs, things you enjoy doing and earning money at the same time – will remain a dream for many amateurs. But why give up so easily? There are many ways to earn money with your own photographs. When marketing your images, you should ensure that you are the owner of the image rights. Therefore, if an image depicts people, make sure you have their written consent, a so-called Release. Images of buildings also sometimes require a Property Release.

Photo agencies
One way to market your own images is by working with photo agencies. You should definitely study and compare the agencies ‘terms and conditions. It may be advantageous to register at more than one agency. In doing so, you can assess the marketing potential of your images and if need be, focus on one or two agencies.

There are various copy right license models that photo agencies go by when marketing and selling their images. The main two are “Rights Managed” and “Royalty-free”. For the copy right license Rights Managed, the costs for the purchaser depend on the scope, length and nature of use. For the copy right license Royalty-free, the purchaser is permitted to use the images for a specified amount of time. The exact copy right license conditions can be viewed at each photo agency.

Another option to put yourself out there with your own photographs and potentially earn money at the same time is to partake in photo competitions. Don’t just pay attention to the prizes on offer. Many sponsors of these competitions take the opportunity to obtain high quality images inexpensively.